Loving Others Like Jesus

One of the clearest signs that we understand the heart of God is the way we treat people. It’s possible to know a great deal about theology, attend church faithfully, memorize Scripture, and still struggle to love others well. We can become skilled at discussing truth while remaining impatient, harsh, unforgiving, or self-centered.

I recently read an account of a man who was telling an employee at a Christian Bookstore all about his thesis. He had just finished earning a Master's in Divinity degree and was planning to serve in some form of vocational ministry. During the conversation, his son asked him a simple question, and the man responded so harshly and hurtfully to being interrupted by his child that it made those around him question whether he really had the temperament to serve in church leadership.

Jesus never separated devotion to God from love for people. In Matthew 22, He brings those two responsibilities together and shows us that they stand at the center of a life that honors God. We were created to glorify God, and we glorify Him by loving Him with our whole being and by loving the people He has placed around us.

Matthew 22 takes place during the final week before the crucifixion. Religious leaders repeatedly approached Jesus with questions designed to trap Him. The Pharisees, Sadducees, and other leaders were trying to expose some weakness in His teaching.

“But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together.” (Matthew 22:34)

One group had already failed to discredit Jesus, so another group tried. Matthew tells us that one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question to test Him.

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” (Matthew 22:36)

This wasn’t just an innocent request for information. The man was testing Jesus. The Old Testament contains hundreds of commands, and Jewish teachers frequently discussed which commands carried the greatest weight. The lawyer was asking Jesus to summarize the heart of God’s law.

Jesus answered by quoting Deuteronomy 6:5:

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37)

Then Jesus said:

“This is the great and first commandment.” (Matthew 22:38)

Everything begins here. Love God, not partially, not occasionally, and not only in an intellectual kind of way. Jesus says we’re to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind. In other words, God isn’t asking for one compartment of our lives. He desires the whole thing. Every part of us.

Our heart speaks to our desires and affections. Our soul speaks to the totality of who we are. Our mind speaks to our thoughts, understanding, and convictions. God isn’t satisfied with being one priority among many. He’s worthy of the highest place in our lives because He is our Creator, Redeemer, and Lord.

This is where glorifying God begins. We glorify God when we recognize His worth and respond with wholehearted love.

That love isn’t based primarily on emotion. Feelings certainly have a place in our relationship with God, but biblical love goes beyond feelings. It involves loyalty, devotion, trust, obedience, and worship.

Jesus said:

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” (John 14:15)

Love for God changes how we live. When we love God, His desires begin to shape our desires. His Word becomes our authority. His character becomes our model. His glory becomes more important than our reputation, and His approval becomes more significant than the approval of others.

This doesn’t happen perfectly or instantly. Spiritual growth is gradual. The direction of the Christian life is toward greater love for God, and something else happens as that love grows. We begin to love what God loves.

That leads directly to Jesus’ second command.

“And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”(Matthew 22:39)

When Jesus speaks of loving your neighbor as yourself, He’s quoting from Leviticus 19:18. The first commandment concerns our relationship with God. The second concerns our relationship with people. Yet Jesus says the second is “like” the first.

Why? Because genuine love for God inevitably affects the way we treat people created in His image.

The apostle John later wrote:

“If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar.” (1 John 4:20)

Those words are strong because Scripture refuses to allow us to separate spirituality from relationships. We can’t claim to love God while consistently treating people with contempt. We can’t worship God on Sunday and then spend the rest of the week tearing people down. We can’t celebrate grace while refusing to extend grace. We can’t praise God’s patience while remaining unwilling to be patient with others.

Love for God is meant to overflow into love for people. This is one of the ways God’s glory becomes visible through us.

Jesus concluded:

“On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:40)

Jesus wasn’t abolishing the rest of Scripture. He was summarizing its moral direction. The commands of God teach us what it looks like to love Him and love others.

Why should we refuse idolatry? Because we love God. Why should we honor His name? Because we love God. Why should we honor our parents? Because we love others. Why should we refuse murder, adultery, theft, false testimony, and coveting? Because love seeks the good of our neighbor.

The law isn’t a collection of arbitrary restrictions. It reflects God’s holy character and teaches His people how love should operate in a fallen world.

But these commands also reveal a serious problem. We haven’t loved God perfectly, and we haven’t loved others perfectly. If these are the greatest commandments, then they also reveal the greatness of our sin.

Think about the first command. Have we always loved God with all our heart? No. Our hearts wander. We become fascinated by lesser things. We sometimes value comfort more than obedience. We fear people more than we fear God. We pursue success more passionately than holiness. We allow entertainment, possessions, work, relationships, or personal ambition to occupy places in our hearts that belong to God.

Then consider the second command. Have we always loved our neighbors as ourselves? Again, no.

We’re naturally very attentive to our own needs. When we’re tired, we want others to understand. When we make mistakes, we want people to be patient. When we fail, we want grace. When we’re hurting, we want compassion. When we accomplish something, we want encouragement.

Loving our neighbor as ourselves means learning to offer others the kind of care we’re so quick to desire for ourselves.

That can be difficult because people can be frustrating. They can misunderstand us, disappoint us, or act selfishly. Sometimes the people who are hardest to love aren’t distant enemies. They’re the people we see every day.

A spouse who thinks differently than we do, a child who tests our patience, a coworker who annoys us, a church member who disappoints us, a neighbor who makes life difficult, or a relative who knows exactly how to irritate us can all become opportunities to practice Christlike love.

Jesus doesn’t tell us to love only the people who are easy to love. He tells us to love our neighbor. In the Sermon on the Mount, He went even further.

“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” (Matthew 5:44)

Christian love isn’t just reciprocal. The world understands loving people who love us. Jesus teaches us to love when love isn’t returned.

That kind of love points directly to the gospel.

“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

God didn’t wait until we became lovable. Christ didn’t die for people who had finally earned His affection. He died for sinners. He loved rebels. He gave Himself for people who had rejected God.

This is where Christian love begins. We don’t manufacture Christlike love by trying harder to be nice. We receive the love of Christ and then learn to extend it. The cross becomes both the source and the pattern of our love.

Jesus loved sacrificially. He didn’t just speak about love. He gave Himself.

On the night before His crucifixion, Jesus told His disciples:

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you.” (John 13:34)

Those final words raise the standard: “as I have loved you.”

How did Jesus love? He served. He washed His disciples’ feet. He showed patience with their weaknesses. He taught them truth. He corrected them when they were wrong. He forgave them when they failed. He prayed for them. Ultimately, He died for them.

Biblical love isn’t simply affirming everything someone wants. Sometimes love encourages. Sometimes love comforts. Sometimes love serves. Sometimes love sacrifices. Sometimes love tells the truth, even when doing so is painful. Jesus did all of those things.

His love was never cruel, but it also wasn’t sentimental. He loved people too much to leave them in sin. He called people to repentance because sin destroys. He forgave sinners because grace restores. He pointed people toward the Father because only God can satisfy the human heart.

This helps us understand what loving others like Jesus actually looks like. It means seeking another person’s genuine good even at great personal cost to yourself. 

Sometimes that means giving. Sometimes it means listening. Sometimes it means forgiving. Sometimes it means showing patience. Sometimes it means speaking truth graciously. Sometimes it means refusing to retaliate. Sometimes it means setting aside our convenience to meet someone else’s need.

Love often shows up in ordinary moments. You may never be asked to make some dramatic sacrifice for another person, but every day you’re given smaller opportunities to love. You can give someone your attention instead of staring at your phone. You can listen instead of immediately planning your response. You can speak encouragement instead of criticism. You can forgive an offense instead of rehearsing it.

You can pray for someone instead of complaining about them. You can serve when no one notices. You can choose patience when you’re frustrated.

These seemingly small acts reflect something much greater. They reflect Jesus.

This is why loving others glorifies God.

Jesus said:

“By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35)

The love Christians display toward one another becomes evidence that we belong to Christ. People may debate our theology. They may disagree with our convictions. They may reject our worldview. But consistent, sacrificial, Christlike love is difficult to ignore.

When a church loves well, it becomes a visible demonstration of the gospel. People from different backgrounds become brothers and sisters. Generations serve one another. The strong care for the weak. The hurting receive compassion. Sinners experience grace. Conflicts are handled with humility. Hurtful words are forgiven. Needs are met.

None of this means the church becomes perfect. It means imperfect people continually return to the love of Christ and learn to give that love away.

The gospel makes this possible because Jesus accomplished what we couldn’t.

Remember the two great commandments: love God perfectly and love others perfectly. Jesus fulfilled both.

He loved the Father with all His heart, soul, and mind. He never wandered into idolatry. He never resisted the Father’s will. He never sought His own glory apart from the Father.

Even as He approached the cross, He prayed:

“Not my will, but yours, be done.” (Luke 22:42)

Jesus also loved His neighbor perfectly. He had compassion on the hurting. He welcomed children. He touched lepers. He fed the hungry. He defended the vulnerable. He forgave sinners. He prayed for His enemies. At the cross, He gave His life.

Jesus perfectly fulfilled the law of love that we’ve repeatedly broken. Then He took our guilt upon Himself.

The One who loved perfectly died for those who had failed to love. At the cross, Jesus bore the judgment our selfishness deserved. At the resurrection, He conquered sin and death. When we trust in Him, His righteousness becomes ours.

That means our relationship with God doesn’t depend on our ability to love perfectly. It depends on Christ’s perfect love and obedience.

As we grow in Christ, we become increasingly capable of seeing people differently. Instead of asking, “What can this person do for me?” we begin asking, “How can I serve?” Instead of asking, “Do they deserve my forgiveness?” we remember how much we’ve been forgiven.

Instead of asking, “Why are they so difficult?” we remember how patient God has been with us. Instead of viewing people as interruptions, we begin seeing them as individuals made in the image of God.

That’s especially important in a culture increasingly marked by hostility. It’s easy to reduce people to categories: political categories, generational categories, economic categories, religious categories, and ideological categories. Social media makes this even easier. A person can become an avatar, a comment, or an opinion rather than a human being created in God’s image.

Jesus calls us to something better.

Love your neighbor.

That doesn’t mean abandoning truth. Jesus was full of both grace and truth. It means remembering that every person we encounter has eternal significance.

The person who disagrees with you is made in God’s image. The person who frustrates you is made in God’s image. The person who has hurt you is made in God’s image. The person whose lifestyle you can’t affirm is made in God’s image. The person you might naturally avoid is made in God’s image.

Loving people doesn’t mean agreeing with everything they believe or do. It means refusing to treat them as anything less than people God created and people for whom the gospel is offered.

When we love this way, we enjoy God more fully. That might seem surprising, but it fits perfectly with the theme of this series.

We glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Love is part of both.

There’s joy in watching God use your kindness to strengthen someone else’s faith.

There’s also joy in seeing relationships restored and in becoming more like Jesus.

We don’t need to win every argument. We don’t need to receive credit for every contribution. We don’t need everyone to meet our expectations. Our security is already established in Christ.

Because we’re loved by God, we’re free to love others. Because we’re forgiven, we’re free to forgive. Because Christ served us, we’re free to serve. Because Jesus laid down His life for us, we can lay down our preferences for one another.

This is how God’s glory becomes visible in ordinary life.

Ask Christ to help you see people as He sees them. Ask Him to make you patient, soften resentment, make you generous, give you courage to speak truth with grace, help you forgive, and teach you to serve.

You won’t love perfectly.

But you belong to the One who does.

Jesus loved the Father perfectly. Jesus loved His neighbor perfectly. Jesus loved His enemies perfectly. And Jesus loved you all the way to the cross.

Now, through His Spirit, He is forming that same love within you. As we love God wholeheartedly and love others sacrificially, our lives point beyond ourselves.

They point to Christ.

And that’s what we were made for.

© John Stange, 2026